Second Battle of Quang Tri

The Second Battle of Quang Tri was a battle of the Vietnam War which occurred from 28 June to 16 September 1972 during the Easter Offensive.

As the North Vietnamese offensive into South Vietnam was halted at Kontum and An Loc, ARVN general Ngo Quang Truong convinced President Nguyen Van Thieu to authorize a counterattack to reclaim Quang Tri Province, which had fallen to the NVA early in the offensive. 30,000 ARVN troops and US advisors began the counterattack on 28 June, and they used helicopter assaults to land troops behind NVA positions while also launching a general ground attack. By 7 July, the ARVN troops had reached the southern outskirts of Quang Tri City, and, while Truong initially sought to bypass the city and secure the rest of the province first, President Thieu ordered Truong to take the city to restore South Vietnamese morale. On 11 July, US Air Force B-52 bombers launched preparatory airstrikes on Quang Tri before the ARVN assaulted the city. It was not until 16 September 1972 that the city and its surroundings were cleared of NVA forces, and both sides suffered heavy losses, with the NVA losing 17,819 men and the ARVN losing 7,756 (plus 20 US dead). The ARVN victory at Quang Tri raised US hopes that Vietnamization was working and that the ARVN could hold out on its own.